In a somewhat surprising move, particularly given how carefully America treads when it comes to Israel, the U.S. State Department has rejected the visa request of an Israeli parliamentarian.

MK Michael Ben Ari, a member of the right-wing National Union party, recently submitted a visa request to the U.S. consulate in order to participate in two conferences this week, one of which promotes American Jews’ emigration from the United States to Israel.

[Ben Ari] was told that he cannot be granted the visa based on a clause that allows the U.S. State Department to prohibit the entrance of people who were involved in terror activities or were members of a terror organization in a foreign country. Ben Ari believes that the U.S. government is referring to his membership in the Kach movement, a far-right political movement that is considered a terror organization in Israel, Canada, the European Union, and the United States.

Rooted in extremist Jewish ideology, Kach sought to restore the Biblical land of Israel by annexing all the disputed territories of Israel and forcibly removing all Arabs. Preaching the motto of “terror against terror,” Kach openly espoused violence against Arabs and actively participated in anti-Arab activities in Israel. As part of its extremist ideology, the group also espoused violence against the Israeli government. In the mid 1970s, Kahane sought to transform Kach into an organized political party, running twice unsuccessfully for the Israeli Knesset. In 1984, Kahane was successfully elected to the Knesset. However, in 1988, Israeli law was amended to forbid racist groups from participating elections, effectively barring Kach from the political scene.

[...]

Kach has vehemently opposed the peace process, threatening and using violence against both Arabs and Israeli government officials. Following the signing of the Oslo peace accords between Israel and the PLO in 1994, a Kach supporter killed 29 people in a mosque in Hebron. As a result of this attack, Israel formally outlawed Kach and designated it as a terrorist organization. Despite its being outlawed, Kach continues its anti-Arab activities within Israel. While the group has not officially claimed many attacks since being outlawed, Kach praises and supports any violence against Arabs.

Now, one might ask how someone affiliated with a listed terror organization in Israel could serve in the Knesset in the first place. However, Israel’s Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin, infuriated by the State Department’s visa refusal, had a different question for American officials: how can you recognize an Israeli government official as a terrorist?

Rivlin, in protest, wrote a scathing letter to the U.S. ambassador in Israel, Daniel Shapiro, demanding that the decision be reversed:

“I would like to express my protest against the decision and request that it be reconsidered.”"Mr. Ben Ari is a Knesset member who represents the National Union party, an entirely legitimate party in the Israeli parliament. As a public official in Israel, a close ally of the U.S., he cannot be recognized as a member of a terror group or be prohibited from visiting the U.S.,” Rivlin wrote.

God promised the Jews and the Allies granted the promise of Israel. This was a grave historic indiscretion which has left an Occidental thorn in the Arabic Middle East, festering all these years to everyone’s dismay. The Jews left once, to spread their charm and talents throughout the West, contributing in every walk of life, and then turned to compress themselves in a hellish hot place worn to a frazzle with conflict, and to what purpose? Just as nations are becoming obsolete, they are cramming their considerably altered culture back into a place that once rejected them and for a good reason. Israel as a nation is regressive in concept and destructive in execution. It was a mistake to think it would work, and a mistake to think it will survive. This is one planet, not a collection of disputable real estate, and we are one species, not a patchwork of separate biological entities. Whenever we act in denial of these facts, we perish.

If the above comments don’t cover both ends of the political spectrum, they come close. Pretty hard not to be in the middle here. As a radical feminist, I could blame the whole mess on patriarchy, but of course it’s more complicated.

There is no such thing as good violence versus bad violence. If a Palestinian is violent, that is evil. If an Israeli does it, that is wicked. If your god justifies violence, then you are worshipping an idol. Please return to the true G-d who is gracious, merciful, and abounding in steadfast love!